I couldn’t tell you how proud I was of my lovely wife Becky this past weekend when she pinch-hit for me on Sunday and delivered a home run. All week long I’ve heard about how my job is now in jeopardy after her great column. Just one example: Lee County baseball coach Charlie Spivey stopped me in a restaurant this week and said to me, “Hey, your wife writes better than you do.” What was cool about it is that she was right there when he said it. She’s gotten a lot of compliments and quite a few laughs, and believe me, she can step into the batter’s box anytime she wants. For anybody who may have missed her column on Sunday (my response can be found by scrolling below or by clicking on March 16), here it is:Confessions of a Sports Nut’s Wife

By Becky Podlogar

After almost 10 years of being the sports nut’s wife, it’s official — I’ve become a sports nut, too.

I never thought it would happen. Someone recently asked me, “Are sports on at your house all the time?” I replied, “Not all the time, but a lot.” Another person said, “I know you have three TVs in your house, so you don’t have to watch it.” I said, “Yeah, but usually there’s one game on in one room and another on in another room.” (Yes, it would be too difficult to actually figure out the picture-in-picture on our TV. It’s much better to run from room to room to keep up with several sporting events).

Anyway, my revelation that I indeed had become a sports nut myself was made obvious to me over the last few weeks. One of my very first memories of Alex and myself together was watching him and his parents watch a North Carolina and Maryland basketball in January of 1996. They were on the floor in front of the TV going crazy, and being very loud.

But now I’ve caught myself several times in the last few weeks off the couch and about 3 feet in front of the TV. And not only for Carolina vs. Clemson (twice) or Carolina vs. Duke, but any college basketball game that is close and exciting. You see, I love college basketball.

But, I’ve found, that’s not all I’ve fallen for. I work at the hospital, and the other day a new mother, after giving birth, asked her husband who had won the golf match he was watching. The husband replied in a disgusted tone, “Tiger.” I piped up and said, “That’s three in a row, right?”

Then, in directing a husband and his family to the waiting room (where there is a TV), I pointed out that I had noticed while in his wife’s room that there were only a few laps left in the NASCAR race. They took off for the waiting room and only a few minutes later returned to the nurses’ station. “Carl Edwards,” the husband said. I replied, “Did he do his back flip?”

I have noticed recently that even when my sports nut husband is not home, I have found myself checking to see what games are on or flipping to SportsCenter for highlights. Whether it’s basketball, hockey, golf, NASCAR, or even sporting events in Lee County, I stop for a minute to see what’s going on.

There’s more. My husband clearly thinks the world revolves around him, that if the Tar Heels or Cubs are playing badly, then it must be because he’s watching them. So he turns the channel and will only periodically check back on the game, hoping that removing himself from the experience will help the Heels come back.

This, of course, is lunacy. But when I came downstairs after putting our daughter to bed last weekend, UNC was way ahead of Duke. And then, after watching for a while, the Blue Devils made their big comeback. Immediately I thought about turning the TV off and not watching, hoping to change the Tar Heels’ fortunes.

I couldn’t believe it. I had become my sports nut husband.

Don’t get me wrong, I still say forget the man on first base and just pitch the ball. I still think that draft shows are ridiculous, that six hours of pregame is insane and that boxing is disgusting.

I do get it though, if only just a little bit. That final lap when they are racing side-by-side, bumping and banging. That great catch at the end of the Super Bowl to lead the Giants to a victory. That every year is going to be the Cubs’ year (at least for a few games). Those final 30 seconds when it’s tied and we’re looking at OT.

So with all the hats that I already wear, with my full-time job (as a wife, mother and nurse), participating in church and community service activities, taking my daughter to preschool activities, soccer practice and dance classes, I really have, somehow, become not only a sports nut’s wife, but a sports nut myself.